How Extract Suppliers Are Fighting Counterfeit Vape Cartridges

It’s a sign of
success: major weed vape manufacturers now have the same problem as Air
Jordans, Rolex watches, and Gucci bags: knock-offs.

Merry Jane is reporting on a glut of
counterfeit hash cartridges which have flooded markets all over the world,
especially in areas of the United States without permissive medical or
recreational marijuana regulations.

In particular, MJ
says that the knock-offs tend to imitate name brand cartridges from California
including King Pen, Brass Knuckles, and Heavy Hitters.

The article’s
author Zach Harris says that he’s collected a drawer full of cartridges with
King Pen labels, but that the originals and the copies are so similar that he
himself can’t tell which is the genuine article.

A representative
from Loudpack, King Pen’s parent company, told Harris that counterfeit
manufacturers have gotten so good that at this point the labels are often
indistinguishable and the only way to really authenticate a King Pen cartridge
is to test the oil in a lab.

Counterfeit vape
cartridges are available from street dealers, but they also make a killing for
online distibuters, with empty pre-labeled cartridges advertised on Instagram,
sold on specialized sites, and even made available through mainstream retail
hubs like Amazon and eBay.

King Pen’s Chief
Marketing Officer Kate Denton that the company only distributed their product
to vetted, licensed sellers. When the company discovers a knockoff product,
they contact government authorities and file cease and desist letters.

“How effective
this is is questionable,” says Denton. “The state doesn’t take action on these
matters as quickly as we’d like. We have always been in the habit of sending
cease and desist letters to counterfeiters and unlicensed retailers, however
locating bad actors is difficult, and they tend to move locations frequently.”

As soon as one
site goes down, one with a different name but the same product will come up and
take its place.

Okay, so how
about they just change the label? They’ve tried that, several times in fact just
since last summer. But almost as quick as they can change the design, maybe
even quicker, counterfeiters are able to copy it.

Brass Knuckles
has tried to counteract counterfeit cartridges with some very complex labels.
The company’s Instagram account reads, “Starting July 1st,
all authentic Brass Knuckles cartridges have exclusive, serial numbered moving
hologram stickers on the side of their acrylic casing.”

Not to be picky,
but actually they mean “holograph.” A “hologram” is projected light which
appears to take a solid shape. A “holograph” is a printed 2-D image that looks
like it’s 3-D when you look at it from different angles. Once counterfeiters’
vape cartridges start shooting out holograms of Tupac or Michael Jackson, then
we’ll really be in trouble.